2004 08 30 Twitch's Sketchbook: its another update - figure sheet ala Loomis

[twitch]

Some of this stuff is pretty old; all at least six months old. Really just trying to get started here in the sketchbook forum. Thanks for looking at my stuff.





















I know its not the best shit on this site by a long ways but I'd love to hear some feedback just the same

BTW this place truly doth rock

Twitch

[twitch]

Well,

I spent a large part of the afternoon really inspired by El Coro's "The Importance of Sketchbooks" thread; I tried a small piece after his technique, but not having the exact materials he called for, I did some fierce substitution.

I thought you all might like to know what definitely _did_not_ work. Note, there is no pics posted because it came out so bad I had to bury it in the back yard.

First, no tria ink. I tried substituting some watercolor. Short story: Mud. Don't try this at home folks. I'll get back to you on some other substitutions I intend trying for the washes as US$8.00+ per bottle is more than I got during summer semester.

Second, no gauche. I tried substituting some thinned acrylic; this might have worked out ok if my paper was a little heavier.

Finally, I have a tin of Staedler watercolor pencils which I employed in place of prismacolors. Uh, No.

In short, the outcome was a miserable failure. A hunk of trash. I did learn a lot though. For instance, gotta come up with the right materials. This may seem obvious, but prismacolors are not cheap, nor is tria ink. One other thing that really bit me in the ass: The waterproof ink I did all my inking with turned out not to be waterproof, so when I started my washes it broke loose from the page and turned my washes really dark, and lightened up all my linework. This was really the death of the piece right here.

I AM NOT DISCOURAGED. I am determined to continue experimenting and to obtain the proper materials.

Oh, BTW, one thing that did work really well is the Rapidograph pens. I just need some truly waterproof ink in them.

Thanks El Coro, I am really intrigued and inspired by your work. I will keep at it until I have something nice to post.

Kindest Regards,
Twitch

[liam.c]

excited to see the progress

[twitch]

Here she is, todays big sketch excercise- a strictly imaginary personna.


Twitch

[liam.c]

you shrue are determind ! ) and seems liek ya got quite a mind on ya .. im really intrested to see how this progresses im :barfing: sick sorry not more helpfull wiht the crits but not feel well ( keep going mate try get couple pages a day

[twitch]

Dude, Be Well

Thanks for the comments!

I really appreciate the encouragement. I know my sketch work is a little weak, and I really need to improve it. I was very stoked to come across CA and find a community with a work ethic. It keeps me motivated, and keeps me immersed in fresh ideas and enthusiasm.

So far my discovery of CA has unfolded into a series of tangible opportunities to engage work and working. The Daily Sketchbook Series has become a well-loved task master almost over night this is a really Good Thing (tm) it has me working again at a level that is not so project-oriented, but rather focuses on skills developement.

I will be posting as often as time permits, keep watching here if you want to see a guy bust his ass in pursuit of getting it right

I'll cease prattling now

Be Well, and thanks again for the comments.

Cheers,
Twitch
:o

[twitch]

This is a one hour sketch roughly after something in the References section. No eraser, just the mighty .5mm mechanical pencil




May beauty abide with you and peace within.
Twitch

[twitch]

This piece looks a little odd after scanning.

It was done on some medium weight bristol board and a lot of erased lines show through in the scan that are not apparrent on the original. Also, though it is a heavily shaded sketch, it appears much much darker in the scan. Didn't want to subject it to any manipulation though so there it sits.

I think next time I will stay a little more faithful to the reference work.

Twitch

[twitch]

These are the working drawings I did while coming up with the (late) piece for DSG 473 (at least I think it was 473 -- armored/covert military van/transport).



Ultimately I ended up going with the wallbanger:



Dig It.

[twitch]

Here is a study of a human female torso (very beautiful girl) to whose form I was as faithful as I could be in rendering it; her image is in the nude references thread somewhere, sorry don't remember exactly which one it is



Enjoy, I did

[twitch]

I'm working up some material for another run at El Coro's prismacolor-based highlights over washed inked lines (is that a concise description?) - - -

Anyway, here's what I'm playing with. Lightsource from below, bright LCD in a dark room.

I dont like the face/head yet; perhaps you can tell from the variations....




Crits Pls?

Twitch

----------
The unbearable urge to hit ESC and type :wq<CR> when editing up content on this site is making me psychotic...
.............

[twitch]

Some goon I made while trying out some experimental media mixing stuff



First was a watercolor wash; then watercolor pencils. Then I applied a light coat of highly thinned acrylic matte medium; after this dried I applied a heavy ink layer; when this had dried to the touch I hit it all over with water, turning the entire thing to an inky black rectangle which I then blotted. Then color highlights with the watercolor pencils and finally the white prismacolor highlight (I found a couple of white prismacolor pencils in my stuff the other day; I so wish I had other colors! those things rock).

C+C Solicited!!

Twitch

[twitch]

Oh, time to go back to school. So posting will likely be slightly less frequent. Then again, I have scanners and workstations there in the lab, so maybe not. Probably just a pause as I get myself and Tori back in school routine.

Here's a little bonework I've been playing with the past day or so:



Man, I'd love to get a straight up critique from somebody. I might as well be posting this stuff to my blog for all the feedback I get here...

CRITS? ANYBODY??

Twitch

[nebulous]

Crits? Well.

I love the female torso. Looks pretty good, although the neck is probably too long.

I don't see much in the way of construction of the drawing, especially for the faces. Just jotting them down on the fly only works if you've memorised where what goes. This is most evident in the top-left 3/4 view one in the last scan. In that little pic, the neck is connected extremely wrong. It's tiny, but that's no excuse.

You do better when drawing directly from reference, so keep doing that and then redrawing the reference from memory, without too much embellishment. That'll get the basics stuck real good.

And for further references for figuredrawing, check Loomis' books at http://www.saveloomis.org/. Fun With A Pencil is actually a pretty neat book, with the first part more for 1930's kids, and the latter part more for adults, but do follow all parts and exercises. Figure Drawing For All Its Worth is pretty much considered a bible by many.

[twitch]

Thanks Nebulous!

I really appreciate you taking the time to look at my work and make some comments.

I also appreciate the quality of the comments, all spot-on. I know I need work on many points with respect to my figurative work, I have been too focused on abstract oil stuff for the past couple years.

Unfortunately its doubtfull I'll be able to score the books you suggest, as I'm a broke college student and I just had to sell my soul for tuition this semester LoL but I will check for them in our local library system.

I assure you though that I will continue working from references to be found here and from my anatomy reference.

Sometimes though I still gotta break out and draw something nutty from no reference (or several just gotta experiment sometimes ya know.

Thanks again for taking the time to look at my work and for the comments.

Be Well,
Twitch

[nebulous]

The Loomis books are out of print, and to prevent their lapse from knowledge, they've been put online.

So just go to http://www.saveloomis.org/ and download them.

[liam.c]

wow twitch !!! real improvement soo fast !!! man keep going and ... awsum )

[twitch]

Nebulous, You rock.

Have 'Fun with a pencil' on my desktop now. Will Be creating a deadtree copy before long.

Thanks Man. Too cool.

Liam: Hide and watch my friend, I can only get better with practice (and support from folks like Nebulous)

Twitch

[twitch]

Some life drawings of my daugters frollicking in their little wading pool. Oldest was too frollicksome to get more than just the one full face sketch...



I'm working today on some more anatomical studies (from references nebulous ;^)

Will post them up later today.

School has already slowed me down some and we haven't even started back yet. It's looking pretty good though, looks like philosophy will be my only real meaty course this semester - of course there's the interpersonal communications class too but that should be a breeze. The rest is all about painting and drawing in one fashion or another.

Until next time,

Be Well
Twitch

[twitch]

Man,

This larger sketchbook format takes a bit longer to fill a page. Plus I'm trying to discipline myself to take more time on the drawings, to keep the leads properly pointed, make good use of the erasers and use a full range of leads in the drawings to get good depth/tonality.

Hopefully it will be reflected in the quality of the drawings. What the hell, I can work on being quick after I've honed up the skillz : )

So, despair not for me, lack of post <> lack of drawing

Be Well!
Twitch

[liam.c]

exelent )

[twitch]

Weeeell, guys and gals, here's a peek at what I've been up to, will edit this post later when I fill up the page, but here's what I been doing, just so ya dont think I'm lazy....


Just some studies of bonez and such -- I know the spinal column down there sucks just trying to work it out work it out work it out...

Twitch

UPDATE: Filled this page a little more, working with the
method described in Andrew Loomis' "Fun with a pencil" - more of that to come

C'mon, now somebody gimme some crits y'all!

[twitch]

goddamn hair on my scanner bed - oh well least I found it...it wont be there next post

twitch

[twitch]

As per the excellent advice of the good bone doctor Mentler, I have gone back to basics with the human figure and form, taking up the stick figure methods of Andrew Loomis (and others, no doubt, but I'm working from Loomis), and doing three or more figures per day from imagination/memory.

It's going pretty rough in terms of quality of output right now, but the methodology will yield consistently good results given sufficient practice. Plus its really fun too

'nuff chatter, here's the work I've been doing. Critique if you want, I know they're not very good. They're just the proceeds of me trying to get the construction technique dialed in. Stay tuned for improvement




G'night Peeps!

Twitch

[Syrogen]

hey man, theres not much i can say except keep drawing! never stop learning your anatomy, you can never soak up enough. i've noticed your strokes are short and messy, force yourself to keep that pencil on the paper! use long confident lines, before you know it youll see some dramatic improvement.
keep posting!

[van]

Excellent work in here. Progress.

Lets see more!

[twitch]

Thanks for the comments and encouragement guys. Every little bit helps!

Sy: 'precciate the constructive elements. Short messy strokes betray my lack of confidence with the new technique. Also prolly speaks volumes about how fast the sketches were done (trying to cut down on the noodling).

Thanks again for l00king

Twitch

[liam.c]

get back to sketchin ! eheh
mesure your figures out the legs are a bit short ) nice progress though mate )

[twitch]

LoL

Yeah that legs thing is kickin my ass, its like Mentler (the bone doc) says, 'we draw what we know, not what we see' its a tough nut to crack to cut that out...

Been working though, BIG update to sketchbook tonight after I draw today.

THANKS FOR COMING BY, LIAM!!
(Thanks for the crits too )

Be Well
Twitch

[twitch]

Another Big Fine Update from Big Fine Twitch

These guys are the oldest in this series (from a couple nights ago)


Then there are these from last night....



I'm sure you can tell from the foregoing that I'm struggling to stop oversizing the anatomical elements of the human figure....

One thing I think has been contributing to my defeat in this work is the size I'm working at, so this next bit is one figure for the page...

This is what I've done today, and is still a work in progress; color and ink will be added tonight. This is my best refinement of Loomis' stick figure technique for drawing ''from the inside out' (actually I think that is the bone doctor himself that I'm quoting there)...



Gimme them crits yall and thanks for stopping by to have a look at my practice work!

Be Well
Twitch

8)